Rating: 
Summary: Not as good at the 7th Edition
Review: The 8th edition is not as well organized as the 7th. In the previous edition, information about countries and states were in their respective continent section. The 8th edition has grouped them all together at the end of the atlas in alphabetical order. Someone at National Geographic has determined that the new edition no longer needed separate maps for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, just an overall map of Britain and Ireland, which was also in the previous edition. What happened to all of the city maps, temperature data and and major cities of the world? Finally 8th edition has a cover that is inferior to the other 7 editions, paper vs cloth. I think I will keep my 7th edition.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good and complete
Review: The National Geographic Society has completely restructured its World Atlas for its 7th edition and in so doing has transformed the book from what was a fairly traditional, yet highly esthetic visual piece into book that remains high on esthetics yet soars in terms of it's usefulness as a resource and reference book.
The atlas contains the more traditional renderings that have for so long characterized this series. However, at the heart of this spectacular new volume are more than 75 state-of-the-art political and physical maps that draw on National Geographic's digital cartographic database to achieve the highest level of precision available in the marketplace today. In addition to sections pertaining to each of the seven continents, you will be pleased to find information about world tectonics, biodiversity and natural resources along with coverage of the solar system, the universe, and the world oceans. Additionally, an encyclopedic index of more than 140,000 entries lists every significant city and natural feature on the planet, and an improved system of map keys and locational devices makes it easy to navigate the book's wealth of information. The book also provides references to the NGS web site for visual updates and expanded access to updated databases.All of the wiz-bang technology notwithstanding, the real benefit to the National Geographic Atlas has always been-and remains-its focus on the human aspects of geography. Maps relating to various historical, political, archeological, social and natural resource and other aspects of the human face of geography abound. This has always ben a NGS strength and it is on full display in this Atlas. Completely redesigned, the "National Geographic Atlas of the World, Seventh Edition" will be a wonderful reference for your home or office library. Rich in facts, data and citations, up to date, aesthetically pleasing in the extreme and highly precise both visually and factually, it is a resource that anyone with school age children will appreciate-and depend on-- for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular and practical
Review: This atlas is an excellent balance between spectacular layout and user-friendliness. While still very, very large, the book is not as ungainly to handle as the huge Times atlas and I find the maps in the National Geographic Atlas to be easier on the eyes compared to those in the Times. The book has a quite satisfying introductory section, especially the part dealing with the universe and earth's relative position in same. As far as comprehensiveness is concerned, the maps and index serve all of my purposes, and I am very picky. If you need more detail, you probably should buy a road map for the area, especially pertaining to the individual states in the USA section. In ordering such a tome, I personally suggest the next-day delivery option as it minimizes the time the book spends in transit and the resultant bother of having to secure a replacement for a damaged copy. My own copy arrived in perfect condition but I did use next-day shipping. The National Geographic Atlas of the World is a worthwhile investment for any home or school and should give years & years of service for any map enthusiast.
Rating:
Summary: National Geographic Atlas of the World
Review: This Atlas is the best reference book I have ever had. Since I received the book 2 weeks ago I can't count anymore how many times I have flipped through the pages. The more I open the book the more I am amazed with how much details it has and the amount of information you can get from the book. The pages are just full with fantastic graphics with wonderful colours, especially the satellites photos which are just out of this world! Everytime I watch any TV documentary programs about travel or nature, as heavy and big as it is I make sure I have the atlas by my side so I can spot the locations mentioned.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic, but doesn't live up to all advertisements
Review: With a limited number of printings and a three-digit price, you expect great things from National Geographic's Altas of the World. And, for the most part, the book delivers. In lieu of a long review, I though I'd just come up with some pros and cons to explain why I gave the book the rating I did.
Pros: amazing quality of pictures/maps, city maps, intresting nation and political information, wealth of information, built-in bookmark.
Cons: not 400 pages like amazon claims (137 pages sans index), index is almost as long as rest of book, will not fit in any bookcase you own, poor binding for such an expensive book, hard to fit back in cover.
The last atlas I owned was a child's atlas from 1987. I bought the National Geographic version because I took it to be the diffinitive atlas. And it is. I'm happy with the 8th edition and I'm sure it will be a usefull reference for years to come. But given how few pages it is and how much money it cost, I'm not sure I would buy the 9th edition.
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